August 20th, 2008
I recorded the BMX races last night out of curiosity. (I’ve included some HD screen grabs of crashes for your enjoyment; click on them for the full size image.) BMX has been introduced to increase the interest of young people, those who like Xtreme sports. NBC even has a BMX crashes compilation for you to watch while you drink your Mountain Dew or get another tattoo.
This is the first year BMX is being contested at the Olympics and I’m conflicted about it. While I support any kind of cycling, in order to introduce this kind of cycling, the Olympic Organizing Committee cut two track events (the men’s 1000m and women’s 500m time trials) to make room for the BMX events. This was done to conserve the number of cycling events. According to this page there are 18 cycling events. Swimming has 34 events. So increasing the number of cycling medals wouldn’t have given it a ridiculous number of medals (unless you think swimming has a ridiculous number of events, which I in fact do). Granted, Olympic cycling isn’t as popular as Olympic gymnastics, and that only has 14 medals, but at least gymnastics takes place on different equipment. The cycling events range from 40 seconds to over six hours on four different kinds of venues that require very different types of skills and strategies. Each medal rewards a clearly different set of accomplishments. All but two of the swimming events are in the same damn pool (the 10K open-water swim is new this year) with the same equipment, only the strokes and distances change, and the distances vary by far less than cycling. It’s not clear that adding BMX is a net gain for cycling in the Olympics, and they could have very easily increased the number of cycling events, in my opinion.
Of course, cycling has the Tour de France every year, while swimming has ?
I think the best thing that can happen is if BMX becomes a kind of gateway drug into cycling. Get the young ones into the sport and then push them into the real hard stuff, like the velodrome and road cycling. Then they’ll really be hooked and there’s no going back.
Tags: drugs, get 'em while they're young, meat heads, Olympics, ouch
Posted in Commentary, Cycling | No Comments »
August 14th, 2008
Breaking news: These sports will be immediately eliminated from the Olympic games, due to the fact that they are incredibly lame and arbitrary. Any sport that is judged is “inherently flawed and unfair,” the UN ruled today, and subjecting the worldwide public to these events will be deemed an “act of cruelty.” Any medals already awarded in these sports in the undergoing Olympics will be reclaimed and turned into equipment for legitimate sports, like weights or shot puts (much like turning ’swords into plowshares’).
- Boxing: A borderline event, it does have a clear scoring system, but matches can be called when “in the referee’s opinion, (a boxer is) being outclassed or excessively punished.” Also, boxing is brutal and thuggish.
- Diving: Until and unless the diving competition becomes quantifiable (e.g. splash height and distance in the belly flop competition), diving is prohibited from the Olympics.
- Equestrian: While this isn’t always judged, any Olympic sport that uses another animal is so obviously disqualified it needs no further comment.
- Gymnastics: The king of judged sports. Incredibly popular world-wide. This event pits tiny men and girls (and they’re almost entirely girls, see the “16″ year-old Chinese girl) in events where grace and style are actually part of the scoring. There have been scoring controversies every year. Until and unless scoring can be done by a objective computer, this event is banished to the WE channel between reruns of Hallmark movies.
- Judo & Taekwondo: While these are awesome events, they are judged. An electronic scoring system, similar to fencing, would be acceptable.
- Modern Pentathlon: See equestrian, above.
- Rhythmic Gymnastics: See gymnastics, above. Also, no real sport needs a ribbon which one twirls artistically.
- Synchronized Swimming: While the world loves a pool full of young women in swimsuits (see Baywatch), any sport set to music and that has choreographers is clearly eliminated from the Olympics. Dancesport isn’t in the Olympics, and Synchronized Swimming shouldn’t be either. (*)
- Trampoline: Most don’t even know this is in the Olympics. So most won’t miss it.
The UN also ruled that in evaluating future Olympic sports, the IOC will only consider events that Stephen Skory cares about.
(*) With apologies to my good friend Chris S., it seems to me that Dancesport is hijacking the word ’sport’ like so many humanities hijack ’science.’ If dancing was obviously recognizable as a sport, it wouldn’t need to append the word at the end. We don’t call it Baseballsport. Or Physicsience.
Tags: Olympics, The UN, worldwide dummies
Posted in Commentary | 1 Comment »
August 1st, 2008
I’m back on the new supercomputer in Tennessee: the Cray XT4 Kraken. The coolest command on the computer, in my opinion, is xtshowcabs. Below is the (anonymized) output. This shows which job is running on each node (each processor has four cores in one processor). The lower-case letters correspond to jobs listed at the bottom. Each vertical set of symbols (eight wide, twelve high) is a physical cabinet of nodes*.
What you see below is one job running 8192 cores (a), another running on 4096 (h), one with 2048 (k) and a smattering of smaller jobs. My jobs are i and j, running on 8 cores each. The computer is just about full here, about 96% usage.
This also allows me to know who to blame when my jobs are sitting waiting to start for days.
Compute Processor Allocation Status as of Fri Aug 1 18:14:16 2008
C0-0 C0-1 C0-2 C0-3 C1-0 C1-1 C1-2 C1-3
n3 -------- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh SSSaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaak
n2 -------- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaak
n1 -------- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaak
c2n0 -------- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh SSSaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaak
n3 SSSSS--- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh SSSSaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 --- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 --- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c1n0 SSSSS--- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh SSSSaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 SSSSSSSS -------- --lihhhh hhhhhhhh SSSSaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 -------- --ljhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 -------- --ljhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c0n0 SSSSSSSS -------- ---lihhh hhhhhhhh SSSSaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
s01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567
C2-0 C2-1 C2-2 C2-3 C3-0 C3-1 C3-2 C3-3
n3 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c2n0 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c1n0 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c0n0 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
s01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567
C4-0 C4-1 C4-2 C4-3 C5-0 C5-1 C5-2 C5-3
n3 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c2n0 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c1n0 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c0n0 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
s01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567
C6-0 C6-1 C6-2 C6-3 C7-0 C7-1 C7-2 C7-3
n3 hhhhcccc cccccccc bbbbbbbb gggggggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhcccc cccccccc bbbbbbbb gggggggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhcccc cccccccc bbbbbbbb gggggggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c2n0 hhhhhccc cccccccc bbbbbbbb gggggggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 hhhhhhhh cccccccc bbbbbbbb bbbbgggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh cccccccc bbbbbbbb bbbbgggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh cccccccc bbbbbbbb bbbbgggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c1n0 hhhhhhhh cccccccc bbbbbbbb bbbbbggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 hhhhhhhh cccccccc ccccbbbb bbbbbbbb aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh cccccccc ccccbbbb bbbbbbbb aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh cccccccc ccccbbbb bbbbbbbb aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c0n0 hhhhhhhh cccccccc cccccbbb bbbbbbbb aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
s01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567
C8-0 C8-1 C8-2 C8-3 C9-0 C9-1 C9-2 C9-3
n3 ggggffff ffffffff eeeeeeee dddddddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 ggggffff ffffffff eeeeeeee dddddddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 ggggffff ffffffff eeeeeeee dddddddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c2n0 gggggfff ffffffff eeeeeeee dddddddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 gggggggg ffffffff eeeeeeee eeeedddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 gggggggg ffffffff eeeeeeee eeeedddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 gggggggg ffffffff eeeeeeee eeeedddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c1n0 gggggggg ffffffff eeeeeeee eeeeeddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 gggggggg ffffffff ffffeeee eeeeeeee aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 gggggggg ffffffff ffffeeee eeeeeeee aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 gggggggg ffffffff ffffeeee eeeeeeee aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c0n0 gggggggg ffffffff fffffeee eeeeeeee aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
s01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567
C10-0 C10-1 C10-2 C10-3 C11-0 C11-1 C11-2 C11-3
n3 ddddkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 ddddkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 ddddkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c2n0 dddddkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c1n0 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkXkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk Xkkkkkkk kkkkaaaa aaaaaaaa
c0n0 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkXkkk kkkkaaaa aaaaaaaa
s01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567
Legend:
nonexistent node S service node
free interactive compute CNL - free batch compute node CNL
A allocated, but idle compute node ? suspect compute node
X down compute node Y down or admindown service node
Z admindown compute node R node is routing
Available compute nodes: 0 interactive, 149 batch
ALPS JOBS LAUNCHED ON COMPUTE NODES
Job ID User Size Age command line
--- ------ -------- ----- --------------- ----------------------------------
a 155793 xxxxxx 2048 9h00m xxxxxxxx
b 156058 xxxxxxxx 128 0h50m xxxxxxxx
c 156060 xxxxxxxx 128 0h50m xxxxxxxx
d 156062 xxxxxxxx 128 0h49m xxxxxxxx
e 156064 xxxxxxxx 128 0h49m xxxxxxxx
f 156066 xxxxxxxx 128 0h48m xxxxxxxx
g 156068 xxxxxxxx 128 0h48m xxxxxxxx
h 156080 xxxxxxx 1024 0h33m xxxxxxxx
i 156085 sskory 2 0h22m enzo.exe
j 156087 sskory 2 0h21m enzo.exe
k 156089 xxxxxxxx 512 0h04m xxxxxxxx
l 156091 xxxx 4 0h02m xxxxxxxx |
(* I’m pretty sure that’s the layout. I could be wrong, so don’t invade a medium-sized oil-producing country based on that intelligence.)
Tags: Cray, Kraken, teh shiny
Posted in My Research | No Comments »
July 29th, 2008
I’ve seen this Lotus Elise parked on campus often, but recently it got this “007″ sticker. Putting the double-oh-seven on your car is about as bad as putting random Japanese characters on your windshield. James Bond did drive a Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me, but it went underwater. This Lotus doesn’t even have a roof. And yes, this is the same parking lot where I saw the Hawaiian GT-40.
After I took this photo, the driver came up and I chatted briefly with him. I did not say to his face that he’s a doofus, but I was thinking it the whole time. Apparently he has the numbers on because he took the car to a race course, but there are 998 other three digit numbers he could have chosen that were less ridiculous than 007. He said his other car he races has “666″ on it and he calls it “The Beast.”
In the same lot today I saw this Smart Car. While I disagree with the color choice (red? on a 71 HP car?), the owner of this car is ever so much cooler.
Tags: cars, gas prices, not cool
Posted in Commentary | 1 Comment »
July 23rd, 2008
I have previously groaned about the Tour of California ignoring everything south of Los Angeles. But today it was announced that next years tour will visit San Diego County! The final stage is Rancho Bernardo to Escondido. They must plan a circuitous route as those communities aren’t very far apart.
I’m excited.
Tags: I'm an agent of change, Tour of California, yay
Posted in Commentary, Cycling | 4 Comments »
